KITE SHOOTS 62, TIES COOK FOR LEAD

Tom Kite came from seven shots off the pace with a record-tying 9-under-par 62 yesterday and grabbed a share of the lead with John Cook after 54 holes of the St. Jude Classic in Memphis, Tenn.

Cook, who began the day at 6 under, shot a 66 to bring his total to 11-under 202.

Kite started the third round at 2-under 140 before he tamed the TPC course at Southwind with his lowest round of the year and the third 62 of his career. He had four birdies on the back nine -- his first nine holes -- and added five birdies on the front side to match the course record set in the opening round by Larry Silveira.

Silveira, who entered the third round with a one-stroke lead, faded to a 75, leaving him six shots off the lead.

David Canipe is alone in third place at 10-under 203. Mark Brooks, Jay Don Blake and Tim Simpson are two shots back at 204.

Kite, who also holds the course record at Pebble Beach with a 62, said he is surprised by some of the scores being shot at the 7,006-yard, par-71 course. "It's not an overall low leading score, but we are seeing some surprising individual scores. I feel the golf course is tougher {than the scores show}, except that the greens are soft. If the greens were a little harder, some of the holes would be about impossible to get to," he said.

Kite birdied two of his first three holes and then began a string of four consecutive birdies by dropping a 25-footer at No. 17. He followed with a four-foot birdie putt at 18, then added birdie putts of eight and 10 feet at the first and second holes to go 6-under for the day and 8-under for the tournament.

Canipe took seven shots off par with an eight-birdie, one-bogey round of 64.

Paine-Webber Invitational: Bob Charles shot a 2-under 70 to retain a one-stroke lead after two rounds of the PGA Seniors event at the TPC at Piper Glen in Charlotte, N.C.

Charles, who opened with a 66, fell to even par with a three-putt bogey from 40 feet on the 389-yard 14th, but holed a greenside bunker shot for birdie on the 15th.

"I sure needed a boost because nothing was happening," Charles said. "When you're hitting good shots and not making anything, it's frustrating. And then after a three-putt on the hole before, I was feeling down."

He followed the chip shot with a four-foot birdie on the next hole and finished with a two-day total of 136, leading Bruce Crampton, Joe Jimenez and Tom Shaw by one.

Crampton opened with birdies on the first two holes to make up a two-stroke deficit, then added two more before struggling on the back nine.

Shaw recorded the round's most spectacular charge, as his 7-under 65 tied the course record set by Rocky Thompson in Thursday's pro-am. Shaw rolled in a 20-foot birdie putt on the 18th to cap the round.

Boston Five Classic: Barb Mucha, seeking her first LPGA victory, birdied the 485-yard, 18th hole with a two-foot putt for a 5-under-par 67 and took a one-stroke lead after three rounds in Danvers, Mass.

Her 8-under-par 208 led Laura Baugh by one stroke and first-round leader Ok-Hee Ku by two. Pat Bradley, the tour's leading career money winner; defending champion Amy Alcott; and Nancy Brown were three strokes back at 211.

Mucha's best finish since she joined the tour in October 1986 was a fourth-place tie.